COLINTON GARDEN CLUB
NEWSLETTER NO 76 November 2006

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Coming soon...

Monday 27th. November, 8 p.m.
Spring and autumn bulbs,
Catherine Erskine from Cambo Estate will tell us all we need to know
about this topical subject.

Wednesday 20th. December, 8 p.m.
Our annual Christmas extravaganza! Get into the festive mood with an evening of fun, entertainment and refreshments!

Evening meetings as usual take place at Dreghorn Loan Hall.

Your Photos

As you will know, we often start our meetings with photos of recent events, but we are also keen to show members' photos. If you have any digital photos of gardens or garden-related topics, please get in touch with a committee member and, time permitting, we will try to show them to members.

A Reminder

May we remind those members who have not yet paid, that the 2006/07 fees of £5 per household, are now due.

Please send your subscription to Linda Innes.

Please do tell your friends and family about our Club - they are very welcome to come along to any of our meetings and see what we have to offer. Meetings start at 8 p.m. in the Dreghorn Loan Hall and people usually start to arrive from around 7.45 - time to browse what's in the library. Teas and coffees are served after the main speaker, at about 9.15 p.m. Great value for money!!

Linda Innes,
Membership Secretary

membership
@colintongardens.org.uk

Colinton Primary After School Garden Club

Johanna Carrie writes:

We started this session at the beginning of October, with about ten keen children. This is fewer than last year but they are enthusiastic, and when we took them out to look at trees in the Gallolee Wood they were encouragingly knowledgeable.

We intend to do some bulb planting, outdoors and in, over the next few weeks. Less seasonally, we want to try cuttings of indoor plants (and growing pineapple tops) late in November. We still have some of the small plant pots that were generously donated last summer but if anyone wants a good home for surplus ones, we will gladly accept more. We would also be glad of indoor plants from which we can strike cuttings successfully. We have a few but a greater variety would be fun.

After Christmas the programme includes making small indoor cactus gardens. Again, donations of offsets will be very welcome.

We meet from 15.15 to 16.00 at Colinton Primary School – as last year. If you would like to know more or play an active part yourself – contact me or Isobel.

From the pen of our Chair…

Dear Friends,

We have started the year in high spirits with excellent attendance at our first two meetings. Alan Bennell, an accomplished speaker, who addressed us in September on “The Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh”, was delighted to have such a full and responsive audience and he certainly did justice to his theme. Coming, as he does, from the fount of wisdom as concerns gardens in Scotland (the RBGE), with its world-wide recognition, it was kind of him to comment in his opening remarks that Colinton’s reputation has gone before us as one of the more active and innovative Garden Clubs in the country. At the October meeting Claire Fletcher reminded us of the part texture and structure play in the Winter Garden in addition to the colourful flowers and blossoms which we sometimes overlook in our quest for the luxuriance of the Scottish late Spring.

Something that Alan Bennell said particularly appealed to me. He reminded us that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, plant explorers had searched China and the Far East for exotic specimens which they brought back as curiosities to enrich our own gardens. Now, it seems, the careful nurturing of these plants here has resulted in their being amongst the best preserved examples on the planet, and the RBGE is performing an invaluable service in returning these specimens to their countries of origin. What a wonderful way to repay a debt to bygone eras and how proud we can be of past generations of master botanists.

Closer to home, I am pleased to report that your Club is in good shape. Whilst there are still several subscriptions outstanding, we have some 20 new members who have joined us since our year started in September.

Jo McEwan (our treasurer) has given us a brief financial report in this newsletter for the financial year ending 31st August 2006. I would just like to add a little about the trend in the current year. When all the subscriptions come in, our membership will have increased year on year. The Plant sale brought in a surplus. Our costs are similar to last year, so the indications are that we are continuing in a healthy position. Our aim is to provide value for members and to do this we need to spend our funds wisely, for example in up-to-date equipment such as the data projector (purchased in 2005) which facilitates high class presentations. At the AGM in April we will report not only on the past financial year, but also give an unaudited update on the current year.

You all have your programmes, and there is just one event I would like to highlight. That is the Christmas Party on Wednesday 20th December. Traditionally we put on an on-stage entertainment (a series of episodes) acted by members for the members – one performance only. It is real fun and if you would like to participate (acting, technical support or choir), please let us know. If you can’t perform on stage, come along and perform as a member of the audience! Tickets are £6 which includes wine, soft drinks and light refreshments. Worth every penny! See further details in this newsletter and contact us to reserve your place as soon as possible, please.

So we thank you for your support and let’s keep the Club going as it is, for the sake of our gardens and for the sake of our members.

The compliments of the Season to you all!

Christopher Davies
Chairperson

Christmas is coming…and so is our Party!

(To tune of “Good King Wenceslas”):

“Good chair person Chris booked out
Dreghorn Hall for party.
What is this event about?
- Take a note for diary
20 December is the night:
Food, wine, entertaining.
When will all this start? - That’s right!
8pm in th’eve-n-ing.”

Pat Taylor, Programme Convenor

Tickets for this event are now available. Telephone Christopher Davies on 441 2152, email chair@colintongardens.org.uk or contact any Garden Club Committee Member to reserve your place.

Dates for your diary…

Treasurer’s Report

The Accounts for the year ended 31 August 2006 have now been completed and audited. I am pleased to say they show a net surplus of £228 of income over expenditure and total assets of £4,824 - this figure includes the value of the club's tools, projection equipment, library books and cash in the bank. This compares to a surplus of £8 and total assets of £4,596 for the year ended 31 August 2005. The Accounts will be formally presented at the AGM next April as usual. These figures indicate that the Club has strengthened its financial position and we thank all members for their support.

Jo McEwan, Treasurer

Colinton Garden Club on the web

If you have access to the internet, our website at www.colintongardens.org.uk is a useful source of information about the club. We hold current and back copies of the Newsletter, information about forthcoming events, details of club services and lots of pictures. Follow the News link to see what is new. Look out for the plant list with notes (under “events”) from the talk "The Winter Garden" by Claire Fletcher.